Get new recipes in your inbox
Breakfast quesadillas with avocado, mushrooms and bacon. Now quesadilla is my perfect toasted cheese sandwich as I’ve only just realised. It ticks all the above boxes plus one huge box on top of that: there’s no bread.
Festive red cabbage stir fried with apples, raisins and spices, super quick to cook. Red cabbage can be saureed very quickly and easily, and it's great not only for Christmas.
Italian meat ragù is widely known as Bolognese sauce and commonly drowning bowls of spaghetti outside Italy. Wrong: it should be sparsely served with tagliatelle.
Raisin cake spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg, baked in a Bundt tin. The cake is incredibly easy to make, with boiled raisins, no eggs and no milk; hence also called a wartime cake.
Raspberry and almond slice, a gorgeous buttery traybake with flaked almonds, sugar and butter topping: it’s easier to make and tastier than Bakewell!
Ottolenghi teacakes are really mini ring cakes but perfect with afternoon tea so who can argue? My version has raspberry and chocolate glaze topping.
Raspberry and lemon Battenberg cake made in a regular square cake tin, wrapped in homemade marzipan which makes it taste simply heavenly.
Sponge cake roll with cream and raspberry filling. A Swiss roll, jelly roll, or cream roll – it can be filled with buttercream, mascarpone or whipped cream plus any seasonal or frozen fruit. Truth be told, it’s lovely even rolled around good jam.
Raspberry crumble bars with oats, brown sugar and fresh berries; recipe adapted from the New York 'Baked' bakery cookbook.
Delicious homemade raspberry jam, easy to make even in small quantities. Equal amounts of fruit and sugar cooked to setting temperature. Also, don't believe in sugar free jams: they won't set. won't keep and contain unpleasant chemicals.
Raspberry meringue roulade: the perfect dessert recipe by Ottolenghi, with raspberries and whipped mascarpone cream filling, decorated with rose petals and pistachios.
Raspberry muffers are not muffins. There’s no milk, or cream or yoghurt in the ingredients. It’s an ordinary cake mix baked in muffin tins, just for the variety. And no – they aren’t cupcakes either because no icing? No pink colouring? No little roses...
No churn raspberry ripple ice cream, based on Nigella Lawson’s recipe: stupidly easy, and amazingly effective. Two ingredients plus frozen raspberries equals ice cream made in ten minutes.
Raspberry sponge cake recipe, with fresh berries scattered on top of light and airy cake batter. Dust with icing sugar for a perfect summer dessert.
Easy one pan ratatouille with courgettes, peppers, aubergines and tomatoes, cooked on the hob. Classic side dish made simple.
Raw asparagus is delicious in a salad with shaved Parmesan and a simple dressing. It's supremely healthy eaten raw, especially when fresh, firm and locally picked.
Raw broccoli salad with fragrant Asian dressing. NY Times inspired salad of fresh raw broccoli marinated in garlic and sesame dressing.
Roasted red pepper and sun-dried tomato foldovers in simple granary bread dough. They are also known as ‘slippers’ because of their shape.
Red velvet cake frosted with a cream cheese, mascarpone and whipped cream filling. It’s an excellent cake, totally suited for a birthday, layered and all, frosted and decorated – a beauty.
Homemade redcurrant jelly is awesome with roast lamb, turkey pie and venison steaks. And this is a super speedy recipe which still makes crystal clear jelly!
Redcurrant cake, light and buttery sponge topped with fresh tart redcurrants. Redcurrants doth not only jelly maketh, but cake in summer too.
Reverse seared ribeye steak served with umami flavoured compound butter. The perfect steak, cooked in reverse: first low temperature, then a blast of heat.
Classic rhubarb fool recipe, ready in minutes. A classic dessert, this rhubarb fool is made with rhubarb puree and whipped cream.
Ricciarelli, almond shaped and almond flavoured biscuits from Siena, traditionally made and gifted for Christmas. An authentic recipe for these delightful marzipan sweets.
Stuffed peppers with rice and leftover cooked chicken meat. Stuffed peppers bake for 40 – 50 minutes and they can be made as a vegetarian dish very easily.
Rice flake breakfast bars lightly sweetened with maple syrup and apricot jam topping: a healthy option with lots of fibre from poha, dry rice flakes.
Arbroath smokie, small Scottish smoked haddock, flaked into a rice pilaf with Middle Eastern flavours. Arbroath smokie rice pilaf, similar to smoked fish kedgeree, great for lunch or brunch.
Sweetcorn and chorizo paella-style dish is stupidly easy to cook. No, you don't need a special pan and yes, you can swap chorizo for another kind of sausage.
Beef, ricotta and oregano meatballs from Ottolenghi are delicate and light, cooked in a richly flavoured tomato and onion sauce.
Rissoles made with leftover roast duck, flavoured with apple and cheese. Rissoles are croquettes made with minced cooked meat, coated in breadcrumbs and fried or baked.
Carrots and parsnips roasted with garlic cloves, harissa, herbs and honey, that's a classic trimming for a Christmas dinner. But a tray of fragrant roast vegetables is far too good to only have once a year!
Roast duck with a spice rub. This honey and soy roasted duck recipe is Tom Kerridge's, the seasoning is perfect and the duck is flavoursome, tender and juicy.
Roast goose breast with apples and raisins, best seared in a skillet to render fat, then finished off in the oven. With apple and raisin topping to cut through the rich flavour of the meat.
Roast grouse served with game chips. Grouse is a grown-up’s game. For beginners, quail or guinea fowl will be a tame enough start. Intermediate gamers will enjoy partridge and pheasant lest it’s inexpertly dried out in the oven.
Lamb loin, or cannon of lamb, wrapped in prosciutto with rosemary and thyme, roasted in low temperature oven. The finest dining easily made!
Roast leg of lamb on the bone, cooked medium, pinkish in the middle and with a crispy skin, is the perfect Easter Sunday lunch. Half a leg for four, whole leg for a crowd, just adjust the cooking time per pound of weight.
Roast partridge with bacon and pears, an easy recipe for a good game bird. Partridge doesn't taste too strong and isn't too dry if cooked right - here's how.
Roast pheasant with best Brussel sprouts and garlic spinach mushrooms. Game birds roasted inevitably evoke the spirit of Christmas, especially when paired with disputably fragrant aroma of cooking Brussels sprouts.
Wing rib or fore rib, beef roasted on the bone is the best, not least because it makes for glorious gravy. Cooking times: 20 minutes at 240C/475, and then 15 minutes per pound of weight at 190C/375. Internal temperature should read 60C/140F.
Roast sirloin of beef cooked at low temperature produces as fantastic result as sous-vide cooking. The caveat: abandon all hope if you don’t own a digital probe of some kind.
Roast venison haunch with chocolate sauce: this recipe is for the most tender, juicy and succulent meat served with the perfect accompaniment, chocolate sauce.
Roast wild mallard duck, easy to cook, tender and full of flavour. Female specimen are plumper but if in doubt, salt the mallard in advance to tenderise it.
Chunks of beetroot roasted with honey, thyme, tarragon and balsamic vinegar. This is really gorgeous – beetroot baked long, loooong, you might even consider biscuit beetroot: cooked twice.
Roasted grapes go marvellously with cheese, chicken and even pasta. Their flavour intensifies and a drop of balsamic and a flake of salt complements it magically.
Whole lemon sole roasted on a bed of lemon slices, the easiest way to cook the fish. Cook it for just about 20 minutes if it's not too large as lemon sole tends to get mushy if overcooked.
Roasted Romano peppers charred under the grill to skin and core them easily, marinated in an Ottolenghi-inspired dressing.
Roasted red peppers, soft cheese and basil salad. The peppers actually will keep very well in oil or the type of dressing I suggested below; you can jar them and they will keep even longer.
Roasted root vegetables with spiced bulgur wheat are a vibrant winter dish. It’s the classic roast vegetable medley with a summery vibe.